Warhawk

Written by Chris Reiter  on October 13, 2006

First Impressions: Warhawk's a lot like an old friend you haven't seen in a long time. It's changed in appearance, and it wants your money.

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The question isn't 'What's Warhawk?', the question is what took them so long to expand on the franchise? Ten years ago, just after the original PlayStation launched, Sony's Single Trac team (the creators of the Twisted Metal series) put together an aerial combat game called Warhawk. It was a fun little game back then, which for some reason never took off and apparently was forgotten by the masses. But now Warhawk's back in action after two hardware generations, to give PlayStaton 3 owners a lesson in destructive flying next year.

Wholly persistent is the world in which Warhawk will establish its rules by. Online, up to 32 players will be able to battle in the game at once. While Warhawk is predominantly a flight-based action game, you'll also be able to step out of the plane and explore the dividing islands below. On foot, a crafty range of weapons will be available, as will vehicles. Players can sit in the driver's seat or ride shotgun, or piggyback as the machinegunner on a jeep like in Halo. Tanks are another vehicle that can be driven or fought against if the opposing team has 'em. Finding pistols, flamethrowers, machines, sniper rifles, and more will serve as the basis for handheld artillery.

Up in the air is where the game will really shine, though. It's up here where you'll locate such goodies as laser-firing upgrades and homing missiles that can lock onto multiple targets at once. Even deployable decoys will add depth to the strategy of warring flight, as literally hundreds of aircrafts are going to be positioned in the air at once. The futuristic Warhawks themselves will also take full advantage of the PlayStation 3's motion-sensing mechanics from six angles. You'll be able to tilt backwards to go up, or right and left to swerve thataways. Even barrel rolling should be entertaining with the simple combination of tilting sideways and tapping the R1 button.

Warhawk once looked good on the PlayStation, but that was a decade ago. Now that the PlayStation 3 is near, Warhawk is putting on a full gear blast with a countenance oozing with amazing features. The stark contrast between the deep blues of the oceans, to the brilliant bursts of burning orangey flames, to the aircrafts whirling around and painting flowing streaks of smoke lines all looks so pretty. When your jaw drops to the floor after playing Warhawk next year, make sure to pick it up before the five-second rule goes into effect and someone steals it.